Been a while here, but after finally getting to see the third movie, it really inspired me to keep working on this! I'm really happy I managed to get another chapter out, so I hope everyone enjoys!
Despite the guest of honor for reasons unknown, opting to pull a no show to her own party – predictably, said party seemed to be getting on just fine without her. After about half and hour of Zach attempting to reach his girlfriend to no avail, he simply decided to take charge of the festivities himself. All he had to do was hop the back gate and disable the alarm, just as he'd done so many times before. After that, it was an easy matter of letting in the crowd and setting up the scene.
Hours had passed while the group of young adults drank, danced, and swam about in the lavish backyard pool – among other things. They forgot all about the hostess that was supposed to be here, and were blissfully unaware of the violence and destruction that had been occurring downtown only minutes before. Little did they know, they were about to get a rude wake-up call!
The loud chime of the doorbell ringing out alerted the crowd that someone new had just arrived. Someone uninvited, considering they were ringing the doorbell! Oddly enough, it ended up being Jonathan who answered the door. He narrowed bleary eyes in confusion out at the girl standing there. He had to hold onto the frame to keep from stumbling over, making it obvious that he'd already had far too much to drink.
"You? Wha-er you doin' ere'? Ya nosy lil' nerd? Why I outta. . ." he trailed off as he attempted to make a threatening motion in her direction.
However, immediately sensing the incoming danger, she felt Venom take control of her arm, snapping her hand around the guy's wrist and effectively halting his half-assed assault. He blinked down at the hand in confusion, clearly not understanding what was happening.
"From now on, whatever I want. That's what," Edith replied stoically, before launching him backwards into another group of young adults with minimal effort.
There was some shouting and general protests from the injured parties, but for the most part, the activities continued as if nothing had even happened! Although, Jonathan was now out for the count.
Edith stepped across the threshold and into the room to find Becky hovering close by. She stared at the new arrival with bewildered shock as other more oblivious party goers pushed past, moving to get a look at the now unconscious guy currently sprawled out on the floor. A round of pointing and laughing was followed up by the body getting dragged off to who knows where – to get his face graffitied, or some other juvenile party prank – or perhaps something worse? Either way, Edith didn't much care for his fate. She had bigger fish to fry!
"Edi?! Wha-what? How are–? Did you–?" The other girl stuttered, obviously having difficulty getting past her stunned surprise. If nothing else, she did appear to be significantly more sober than the rest of her peers.
"You should get out of here while you can, Becky," Edith opted to offer as a warning as she strolled past. She had at least attempted to stand up to Chasity during the incident, after all. "Otherwise, I can't be held responsible for what might happen to you if you don't," she followed up with the subtle threat.
Becky took one look in the direction of where her unconscious boyfriend had just been hauled off, and then back to Edith's deadly, serious face before she made her decision. Logic apparently winning out as she nodded and made a beeline for the exit, casting one last sideways glance towards the nerdy girl as she went.
"I'm so sorry, Edi. And, uh, th-thanks," she managed to stutter before disappearing from sight.
Becky had always struck Edith as being at least a bit smarter than the company she usually kept, which was why she could never understand why she bothered with Chasity and the others. Perhaps simply as a defense against being on the receiving end of the constant waves of abuse, which despite not having any respect for, Edith could at least understand.
Forcing her way through the crowd, Edith eventually made her way over to where the music was blaring out of a pair of obscenely large speakers. It was time to start getting some attention! Sensing her intentions, Venom assisted by shooting a thick tentacle out of her arm and hooking the end of it around the first offending electronic. They then proceeded to rip the entire thing completely off the wall, wires and sheet rock snapping and breaking, then pulling it back into her waiting hands.
That sure turned a few heads!
Edith stared at the device for a moment, a wave of thrilling satisfaction washing over her at how easy it was to lift thanks to Venom's borrowed strength. The sensation of power was unlike anything she'd ever experienced before. For the first time in her life, the nerdy, introverted girl felt, brave. She could daresay even go as far as – confident!
Glancing to the side to notice the glistening water just beyond a pair of open bay doors, she heard Venom mirroring her thoughts.
"Into the pool?" he wondered.
Edith answered with a smirk, before proceeding to lob the speaker through the doors and into a vacant section of water. This ensuring the device would be completely unusable. The other one followed quickly after, the few occupants of the pool vacating in fright. There was an odd sort of still confusion in the silence that followed, until suddenly broken by the uninvited crasher.
"Where is Chasity?!" Edith growled, a bit of Venom's voice tinting her own to add even greater volume to the demand.
She was a little surprised to find that it was Zach, and not the actual party's host that stepped out of the crowd. He lobbed a wicked glare in her direction as he stomped over.
"Huh? Edi? What the hell did you do?!" he demanded, not wasting time with any preamble as he noticed the ruined speakers floating in the now empty pool.
"I cleaned up the sound pollution. Now, I'm not going to ask again. Where – is – Chasity?" she repeated with a slow, but dangerous calm.
"Not here. She never showed," he answered, his voice betraying a slight hint of concern. "But even if I did know, it's not like I'd ever tell you, loser!" he added in a snap, his usual contemptuous tone returning.
"Shame. Then I guess I'll have to settle for taking my revenge out on her boy toy of the week," the empowered girl stated flatly to him.
There was a second where no one said anything. It seemed mostly because no one was entirely sure how to react to the unexpected statement. That is, until Zach started laughing.
He glanced around at his peers, expecting them to join him. However, he hadn't seen what they had just a minute earlier, and didn't bother to wonder at how exactly those speakers had ended up ripped out of the walls and floating in the pool. A few tentatively joined him, but it wasn't with the gusto he'd been hoping for, so he quickly moved on.
"And just what is that supposed to mean? You can't do anything to me!" he haughtily scoffed.
"See, now that's where you'd be wrong, you neanderthal! I'm about to get payback for all the crap you put me through!" Edith snapped with a dark glower.
"What did you just call me?" he asked, sounding a bit surprised at her gall. "You know you're not going to get away with that, you nasty, little nerd. Guess you need another lesson in pain!"
The gathered crowd only stared as the much larger guy suddenly reared back to deliver a powerful punch to his unfazed target. However, it never connected. Instead of ducking or flinching as one might expect, Edith simply raised a hand, effortlessly catching his fist in her open palm.
Zach froze. His mouth lolling open as he stared in confounded silence at his knuckles currently clasped in the girl's fingers. His brain was clearly having trouble computing how such a phenomenon could be possible. Edith simply returned his confusion with a grin.
"Not this time, asshole," she told him, taking great pleasure in watching as both of their hands were rapidly engulfed in the black protoplasm she was beginning to become accustomed to.
Zach's expression quickly shifted from bewilderment to utter terror as Venom casually emerged, fully forming himself around Edith once again and lifting the horrified guy completely off the ground! The rest of the crowd of party goers also instantly reacted with fear at the sudden monstrous manifestation. Many of the girls unleashing high-pitched shrieks as they all began frantically backing away.
"You will never harass another innocent person ever again!" Came the deep bellowing bubbling up from Venom's throat. "Because, if you do, I swear it will be–" he continued.
Except, Venom never had the chance to finish the threat, before the garbage human he had clutched in his claws interrupted the speech with a pitiful whine. A moment later and his eyes rolled back as his head slumped to the side, completely passing out cold! Even so, both symbiote and host couldn't help but notice the trickle of fluid now running out of the bottom of the bully's pants.
"Ugh! Seriously? Well, that's disappointing!" Edith huffed with irritation from inside the viscous armor. After all that, the dickhead couldn't even stay conscious long enough for her to enjoy his squirming!
"Pathetic! Should I just eat him and be done with it?" Venom wondered to his host.
"Huh? Naw! He isn't worth getting a record over. Just toss him and let's blow this joint," Edith argued instead.
The symbiote shrugged before complying in agreement, effortlessly flinging the bully's limp form into a nearby snack table with a small flick of the wrist. He landed with a crash, sending more panicked patrons scattering and causing Venom's toothy grin to widen as he decided to get in one last dig before they bailed.
"Party's over!" he growled, unleashing forth a terrifying roar that sent the people who were still standing around staring hollering in fright and flooding out the exits.
With that done, Venom turned and blew through the doorway of the house, practically flying down the street with reckless abandon, enjoying the feeling of being in total control. Meanwhile, Edith put up no resistance, reveling in the rush of adrenaline that being a passenger was producing. Like riding a roller coaster, the intense sensation of movement and speed was quite exhilarating!
Turning a corner, Venom spied a rather tall office building in the distance. Deciding he wanted a better look at this new planet he found himself on, he ran to the base before clambering up the side of it like a jungle cat climbing a tree. Reaching the top, he perched on it's zenith, crouching over to scan his large, white eyes along the horizon.
Now that they had paused, Edith couldn't help the excitement of where they were and what they'd just done from coming out in a burst of manic giggles as the rush of chemicals fully hit her brain. She could hardly help it.
"Did you see – the looks on their faces?!" she exclaimed through her laughter. "I can't believe Zach wet himself! What a wuss!" she emphasized, taking a deep breath as she felt a large portion of the stress she'd been carrying around for the last couple of days finally abate somewhat. "That was so awesome," she admitted.
Meanwhile, Venom couldn't help the feeling of his own satisfaction growing at the sensation of his host's mirth. Normally when he took on a vessel, the only emotions he'd get to experience from them would be ones of fear and despair. Understandably so, seeing as how he would usually just view them as a meal, taking complete control before fully consuming them to then move onto his next victim. Except with Edi, it was – different.
He could feel it from the moment he'd first bonded with the girl. She was almost, if not entirely, a perfect genetic match for him. The longer he remained combined with her, the more he realized how much he was enjoying himself here. Not to mention the more comfortable she seemed to be growing to his continued presence. So much so, that he was beginning to consider, that this could be a more permanent arrangement than he'd initially anticipated. Her apparent increase in pleasure over their current situation was definitely an encouraging change of pace. It was honestly – nice, to have a happy host for once. Definitely motivating to try and find other ways for the trend to continue.
"I am glad you approve," he told her, letting out a small sigh as he felt himself relax with the girl, both of them taking in the amazing view from their vantage point. "It is peaceful up here. Your world is not so ugly after all," he observed.
"Well, it's got it's good qualities along with the bad. I guess, sometimes we forget that we have to look past all the negative in order to appreciate it's beauty," Edith agreed, feeling rather philosophical herself as they stared out over the expanse of glittering lights shining in the darkness.
"Indeed. I'm almost sorry to see it end," he added, bringing down the mood as he reminded her of his true purpose here.
"S-so, does that mean you, I mean, your kind – plan on killing, everyone?" she asked with no small amount of hesitation.
"Not everyone. We will still need hosts. As I said before, those deemed as worthy will survive," he reiterated.
Edith didn't attempt to press him further. Although, despite the unspoken assurance that she would most likely be fine, he could still sense the girl's unease at what that would mean for her friends and family. Feeling her mind giving into sorrow, Venom considered offering her some kind of comfort. However, he never got the chance before the painfully, loud sound of a jet plane suddenly baring down from behind them drove all rational thoughts from his mind!
The symbiote screamed in pain before forcibly regressing back into Edith, who was now also screaming in absolute terror as she found herself slipping along the edge of the building and towards the ground at an alarming rate!
"Where'd you go?! Where did you go?!" she began demanding in a panic as the impending doom of the concrete below was rapidly closing in. "Please come back!" she begged.
A moment later, and her body jolted as she felt herself suddenly halt in midair. Panting in shock at her now somehow dangling feet, Edith turned upward to find Venom had managed to transform her arm. His claws securely embedded into the wall of the skyscraper being the only thing keeping her from falling any farther. The grooves he'd dug into the stone were quite impressive, like something out of Gargoyles.
"I got us," he purred reassuringly to her, and she let out a deep sigh of relief.
Only for him to resume control and throw them both through one of the windows of the building a moment later. Edith groaned in displeasure as he regressed back inside her.
"You couldn't have just, I don't know, slowly climbed down? Are you trying to get me killed?" she asked. Despite only being partly serious as she pulled herself up off the floor and brushed the random glass shards out of her hair.
"That would be counterproductive. You die, I die," he told her flatly.
"Is that really true, though? I mean, couldn't you just – leave and find yourself another host whenever you need?" she reasoned, turning to survey the damage. She hissed at the completely pulverized window. "Hopefully this place doesn't have alarms this high up," she mused.
"Why would I do that? You are far too good of a match to throw away so soon. Plus, I am starting to like you," he opted to confess to her.
"Really? Why?" she couldn't help but wonder in befuddled amusement.
"You and I are not so different. There is a darkness to you that I – resonate with," he explained after a moment of hesitation.
"What? Just because I wanted a little revenge on my tormentors?" she scoffed in protest, but ultimately brushed it off. "Although, you're – not actually all that bad to have around, I guess," she also found herself slowly admitting as she hobbled towards the exit of the dark office they'd landed in.
Despite the unnerving knowledge that he could take control of her whenever he felt like it, even against her will. There was still something almost, comforting about his presence. The understanding that she, in turn, also had access to his power and abilities made her feel, well, safe. If nothing else, it seemed he had at least been upfront and honest about everything, so far.
"I am happy to hear that you are warming to the idea," he told her, as she stepped into the nearby elevator and hit the button for the ground floor.
"Don't get too ahead of yourself. That still doesn't mean that I'm okay with the fact that you're planning on bringing the rest of your friends here to essentially wipe out my entire–"
Edith never had the chance to finish her lecture. Being cut short as she stepped out of the lift and around the corner to suddenly come face to face with what appeared to be a fully armed SWAT team! They all had their guns pointed directly at her, causing the girl to freeze in place in stunned bewilderment. Looked like they had ended up triggering some kind of alarm, after all!
"Hands!" One of the officers barked towards her, to which she quickly complied, lifting her arms up above her head.
And yet, even as a dozen or so red, aiming lasers trained themselves to the center of her chest, Edith felt an odd sense of calm wash over her. As it was, she'd been through enough to know, these guys had no idea what they were getting themselves into.
"On the ground! Now!" Came the next angry order.
"Uh, evening, gentlemen. Look, I'm sure you think all this is necessary, but believe me when I tell you, you do not want to do this," she attempted to persuade them, despite knowing that it would most likely be futile. She barely had a chance to finish speaking before they began to react.
"Mask!" the main guy called out.
"Copy!" another one of them replied, the entire group then strapping what appeared to be gas masks over their faces. Guess they were going to make an attempt at chemical warfare.
"Okay fine, but don't say I didn't warn you," she shrugged with a scolding tone. "Mask!" she then shouted as a signal to Venom, thinking that two could play at that game.
"Copy," Venom was quick to reply, having no qualms about playing along himself as he leaked out of her to entirely swallow her body with his own.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Another officer shouted in shock as the group opened fire on the now monstrous form before them.
Of course, it did them little good, as Venom was able to simply shrug off the bullets. One of the men eventually fired a gas canister, which the symbiote caught like a ball before crushing it in his claws. He snarled at their attackers as the gas leaked out everywhere, having no effect on the alien being, which the officers were quick to realize.
"He's not going down!" One cried in dismay, launching another gas canister that ended up in Venom's mouth. He crunched it in his jaws, allowing even more smoke to fill the already rather hazy area.
"Hold your fire!" The leader eventually ordered when their visibility started to grow strained.
"Flares!" A third cried, once Venom had been completely obscured by the gas cloud.
However, that only encouraged him to charge as the whole area lit up in bright red, causing yet another of the group to begin hollering in fright.
"He's there! He's there!"
"Reload!"
Taking advantage of the momentary lapse, Venom ducked into the darkness.
"Anybody see him?"
The question loomed ominously. Until the silence was eventually broken by the occasional grunting as one after another, officers started disappearing as they were pulled into the heavy fog by black appendages before being quickly incapacitated.
Although, as the cover began to dissipate, the symbiote eventually opted to switch tactics. With the fury of battle pumping through him, Venom plucked two of the men off the ground before launching them both into a large, electronic billboard. Sparks rained down from where they connected in a rather dramatic display of damage. He let out a satisfied roar as he dove back into the fray!
"Does anyone have eyes on him?" Came a frightened demand before the party was quickly dispatched.
"Switching to thermal. Seeking target," One of the more level-headed guys declared over his radio. Too bad it didn't help him. Only being able to watch as the dark monster snatched up one of his teammates to lob mercilessly straight into the middle of him! They both went down hard.
More flying bodies led to additional structural damage as glass shattered and stone crumbled all around. Meanwhile, the area only seemed to be growing darker the longer the fight dragged on.
"I don't have eyes on him," One of the last men standing relayed shakily.
"Where is it?!" Another frantic demand.
Landing right in front of a half dozen or so grouped together, Venom released an additional satisfied growl as he shot out several tendrils all at once to snatch away every single one of the men's weapons. They only had a second to wonder what the heck happened before a fused ball of guns suddenly came barreling back at them! Not all of them were able to duck out of the way in time.
"Flash grenade!" The warning call was shouted right before said bomb went off right next to the symbiote. "Throw them!" Came additional encouragement and more of the explosives.
Not particularly enjoying those, Venom let out a snarl as the resulting blasts caused areas of him to be blown out of place. He recovered quickly though, taking extra care to make sure that his host remained well guarded despite the nonstop assault.
One particularly well aimed projectile immediately gained his vengeful attention. Whirling around, he lobbed a harsh glare at the party responsible for the attack, before launching himself to where the man was perched on the balcony above. Wrenching him from his post, Venom threw him to the ground, then began to make his way higher up the structure.
"He's in the rafters! Above!" Came a realized cry, followed by yet another onslaught of gunfire in their direction.
Venom rushed along the scaffolding in an attempt to avoid taking further damage and get himself out of their sights.
"There he is!"
Lasers waved and bullets rained in their direction, the symbiote eventually deciding to rip an entire piece of the scaffolding off it's hinges, hurling it down towards the attackers!
"Move, move, move!" the guys cried as they all tried to scramble out of the way.
Venom then leapt back down into the middle of the crowd. Not quite the epic landing that Edith had been more or less expecting, but effective nonetheless at giving the men pause. Grabbing at the nearest victim, the black alien took a firm grip on one of his legs before proceeding to go full Donkey Kong on all of their asses! Using his latest captive as an improvised weapon and smacking all the other men around them with the guy's flailing body! He only relinquished his hold when he ran out of nearby foes, throwing his beating tool through another set of glass walls.
It was at this point that there was only one conscious officer left. The terrified man began unloading as many rounds into the monster as he possibly could from his position on the ground, trying to keep his distance as Venom slowly stalked closer. Only when he ran out of ammunition did he then flip over and attempt to flee. However, the symbiote wasn't about to let that happen, reaching down and snatching the man up by the back of his Kevlar vest.
Meanwhile, everything had been happening so fast, that Edith was barely able to keep up with it all! Even as Venom stretched his jaws wide, and began lowering the man into his voracious, open maw, she struggled to process what he was about to do until it was almost too late! As the fear showing in the face in front of them finally registered, she was luckily able to snap to realization!
"No, no, no! What do you think you're doing?! We do not eat policemen!" she scolded harshly, at least succeeding in getting Venom to hesitate in his actions.
However, something that they both failed to realize until that very moment, was that their almost dirty feast was currently being observed by one best friend, Andrew! Who, coincidentally, had finally managed to track them down by following the trail of carnage and news reports they had subsequently been leaving in their wake that evening. His horrified yelling at what he was now witnessing is what alerted them to his presence!
Venom turned to see what the commotion was all about before finally dropping the struggling officer. All poor Andrew could do was stutter incoherently and slowly back away as his brain attempted to understand what he was even looking at! It was only when the blonde boy turned and appeared as though he were about to bolt in terror that the symbiote allowed himself to return into Edith with a snarl.
"Andrew! Andrew, wait!" she called to her friend, running after him even before Venom had a chance to fully regress.
"E-Edi? What the hell?! What in the actual hell is that?!" he began demanding in a horrified tone, increasing the distance between them until eventually hitting a wall.
"That – that's um. . ." she trailed, struggling to find words that could explain what was happening to her when she was barely able to understand it herself! "You, you remember me telling you how I was exposed to something when Chasity and her friends force me into the Life Labs?" she rambled off.
"Ye-yeah? It's why I took you to see my dad. He said that you contracted some kind of – parasite?" he answered, a bit calmer now but still sounding very unsure as to where this was going.
"I mean, sort of, I guess. Only, he doesn't like to be called that," she told him, cringing at the apparently offensive word as she continued her cryptic explanation.
"He?!" Andrew immediately questioned in dubious disbelief. To which, Edith found herself replying with an exhausted, exasperated shrug.
"I, I know it sounds totally insane, but. . ." she then trailed off at that point, her expression contorting into a desperate frown.
"Okay," her friend eventually sighed in a defeated lament as he pulled his own weary hands down his face. "Regardless of whatever, this whole situation is," he expressed, waving his arms out towards the girl and the distressing pile of unconscious officers behind her. "We need to get you back to the hospital. Dad's worried about your condition and wants to see you again right now. So, how about you just, explain the rest on the way," he offered, gesturing towards the waiting pickup behind him.
Edith followed him up to the passenger side of the truck. However, she hesitated after he opened the door for her, feeling afraid to get in.
"Andrew, I – while I appreciate you coming out to find me, I don't think you taking me is such a good idea. I would, never forgive myself if something happened to you," she stressed her concern, all the while never taking her eyes off the seemingly inviting cab.
"It's alright, Edi. Whatever this is, we'll figure it out, but I'm not about to just abandon you. So, please, just – get in the truck," he implored her.
"This one is brave, and was good to us before. I like him. Get in," Venom instructed her in spite of her reluctance.
"Does that mean–" Edith paused, swallowing hard before she could continue. "Do you promise not to hurt him?" she double-checked with her slimy stowaway.
"Yes. I promise," he assured her.
Feeling confident in the fact that he really had no reason to lie to her at this point, Edith nodded before hoisting herself into the passenger seat. Skipping around to the driver's side, Andrew wasted no time in leaping in to join her before starting the vehicle and expertly pulling away from the grizzly scene. Although, he took a moment to reach into the back and drop a blanket in her lap before pulling out onto the main drag.
Grateful for both its comfort and warmth, Edith was more than happy to spread it across herself, shivering a bit as she tucked her arms underneath. She hadn't had a chance to fully dry off after her unexpected dip in the bay.
"Thank you, Andrew," she murmured towards him, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Hey, don't mention it. I mean, isn't that what friends are for?" he reminded her with a shrug and a grin.
"Just as long as you don't start singing," she mock warned, unable to help the slightly playful smile tugging at the corners of her own mouth.